§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the reasons for the delays in paying sheep annual premium payments to Welsh farmers; and if he will make a statement. [19099]
§ Mr. Win GriffithsThe timetable of payments has been delayed by the need to comply with additional information requirements to support European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) payments made after the start of the new EAGGF financial year on 16 October 1997. Without the new supporting information any payments made will be subject to disallowance by the European Commission. The Welsh Office has been working to address these new requirements and this has involved substantial computer reprogramming. The position on Sheep Annual Premium is that some 85 per cent. of first advances in Wales had been paid by early October, and the payment of the second advance is now well under way.